This week’s dish is recommended by Mark Overton, the UTM Dean of Student Affairs and a lover of small family-run joints that cook authentic regional foods.
It can be found at Semi Korean & Japanese Fast Food, in the food court at Newin Centre Mall, southeast of the Hurontario and Dundas intersection in Mississauga, and has a student-friendly price of $7.
If you love hot and spicy food and are an adventurous eater, dubu will soon become an addiction. The family and owners of Semi, a modest food stall, prepare each individual order of this fiery, red-peppered, anchovy-scented broth, served in a stone bowl. It’s loaded with silken tofu, kimchi (spiced fermented cabbage), and bits of seafood, with a raw egg added at the last minute for you to stir in. Each serving comes with side dishes of cold kimchi, steamed rice, and buckwheat tea. It has a rich, powerful flavour—heat-seekers like me slurp spoons of the stew straight; others can moderate it by ordering it less spicy (your loss!) or by diluting each spoonful with a bit of rice.
Semi also has non-spicy options on its menu. And while it won’t impress a date, at the Newin Centre’s multicultural food court you’ll find other cool food options too: Jamaican jerk meats and patties, Pakistani naan with kabobs, South Asian curries and faludas, and more.
